Pink ball pitch a shade less green

A dressing room full of fresh faces will not be the only unfamiliar sight as battle-scarred Australia reconvene for their second-ever day-night Test match at Adelaide Oval this week.

In addition to a playing squad that has undergone a revamp almost as radical as did the historic venue a few years back, the lush, lively pitch that greeted them for last year’s first pink ball match will sport a markedly different coat.

Quick Single: Selectors fulfil mandate for Test squad revamp

One that carries 2mm less grass than the track that was identified by rival captains Steve Smith and New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum back then as far more influential in the result achieved in barely two and half days than the controversial pink ball.

Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood, one of only five players in the current Test squad to have been part of that world first a year ago, has already noted that the changed pitch conditions mean that comparisons to the match in which Australia snuck home by three wickets were a little spurious.

Even though ball so heavily dominated bat in that game that no team was able to reach 225 at a ground that was long considered one of the world’s most benign batting strips.

“I think there’ll still be some grass on it, but I don’t think there will be as much as last year,” Hazlewood said prior to Australia’s first pre-Test training session when asked what he expected from the Adelaide Oval pitch

“I think the pink ball holds up a little bit better now.

“It was a good trial last year and I think he (Adelaide Oval Head Curator Damian Hough) will take a little more off it.

“I still think there will be plenty in it, especially at night and that twilight period.”

Quick Single: Reporter showed 'blatant disrespect'

If the playing surface is a tad unfamiliar to the home team, then the concept of playing Test cricket under artificial light and using a pink ball will be utterly alien to the South Africans who already hold an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match Commonwealth Bank Series.

Not that appearing under harsh glare will be new to a team that landed in Adelaide amid a hail of controversy today when an over-zealous television reporter tangled with an all-too-enthusiastic team official.

South Africa has not hosted a day-night Test and their players have not had the same level of exposure in the first-class arena their Australian counterparts have enjoyed over recent years.

But unlike their opponents, the Proteas do have some idea how the recalibrated Adelaide pitch might behave given they began their successful tour with a day-night hit-out against a young Cricket Australia XI at the venue a month ago.

Where, despite it sporting less green cover than it did when day-night Test cricket was launched last November, South Africa fast bowler Kyle Abbott pronounced it was the most grass he had seen on a top-level pitch “for seven years”.

Which doesn’t bode well for Australia’s rookie-studded top six given Abbott was the stand-out of an exemplary South Africa bowling attack in Hobart last week, where he was crowned player of the match for his nine wickets.

“It seems to nip around a bit when the lights come on, not so much during the day,” Abbott said at the end of the two-day warm-up game in which the CA XI was bowled out by South Africa’s seamers for 103 in barely 30 overs.

“But there’s a bit of grass on this wicket so there has been a bit of assistance if you hit the deck hard and get it in the right areas.

“Not a huge amount of swing, just a bit more nip off the surface.”

Abbott claimed he found no issue in seeing the ball against the stadium backdrop as the floodlights came into effect, though he noticed the pink ball’s lacquer began to “peel” in places after about 15 overs of wear and tear.

And while Hazlewood indicated that had some problems with visibility around twilight and when fielding square of the wicket when he played a Sheffield Shield game with the pink ball at the Gabba last month, he noted that the change from a dark green to a black seam had helped to alleviate that problem.

“That's the only difference,” Hazlewood said today.

“We had the hit out in Brisbane and it was pretty successful.

“It didn't do a great deal during the day and quickened up at night.

“There were quite a few runs scored, it was pretty even with bat and ball.”

It was during last year’s maiden pink ball Test that Hazlewood first stepped up as a leader of Australia’s Test attack, after his new-ball partner Mitchell Starc was hobbled by a foot fracture mid-match.

And he responded by claiming career-best figures of 6-70 from almost 25 overs.

Now, with six new players called into the 12-man squad for the third Test starting on Thursday afternoon, Hazlewood immediately becomes one of the senior members of the outfit.

One of only five players in the squad (alongside captain Steve Smith, David Warner, Nathan Lyon and Starc) to boast more than 20 Tests’ experience.

But rather than come as cause for trepidation, Hazlewood sees the relative inexperience and the dawn of a new era as a positive influence in a Test dressing room that has endured five consecutive defeats.

Quick Single: Marsh mucked up Bird decision: Bailey

“It’s very exciting having some fresh new faces around, quite young guys as well,” he said.

“It’s a good feeling amongst the group at the moment, we have to build something together.

“I’m now a senior member of the team and showing a good example is one way to lead them around.

“With such a young group it is exciting to build something together but there’s not as much pressure because everyone’s first game and we need to start from a point moving forward.

“Hopefully this group gets an opportunity to do that, not only in one game but over a period of time.”

MEET AUSTRALIA'S FOUR NEW FACES

• Matt Renshaw. 20. Left-hander, averages 44 from 12 first-class games with two centuries. Yorkshire-born, moved to New Zealand aged seven, then Australia age 11. Queensland's leading Sheffield Shield run-scorer last season.
• Nic Maddinson. 24. Left-hander, averages 38 from 59 first-class games for NSW. Played two Twenty20 games for Australia in 2013. Has made two tons and an 86 in the Shield this season.
• Peter Handscomb. 25. Right-handed Victorian averaging a tick over 40 from 61 first-class games, nine centuries. Son of British parents, holds a British passport but has been in Australia's system since under 19s.
• Chadd Sayers. 29. Medium-fast bowler in the Alderman mould. Has taken 186 wickets at 24.20 in 47 first-class matches. Renowned for making the ball swing at Adelaide Oval.

International cricket is more affordable than ever this summer, with adult tickets from $30, kids from $10 and family packages from $65 across every day of international cricket. Price for purchase at match. Transaction fee from $6.95 applies to online and other purchases. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.